Notes for: Thomas Newton O'Connor

Obit - Dayton Daily News - August 6, 1976

O'Connor, Thomas Newton, age 30, Navy lieutenant, stationed at Virginia Beach, Virginia lost his life in an aircraft accident on August 6, 1976. Lt. O'Connor, a native of Dayton, Ohio was a graduate of Chaminade High School and earned a bachelor's degree from Ohio State University. He had been awarded the Orville Wright Achievement Award by order of the Daedalians, had served as a pilot aboard the aircraft carrier USS Independence in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea and recently completes a tour as flight instructor in the F-4 Phantom fighter aircraft. Lt. O'Connor was preparing for a second tour of carrier duty as an F-4 pilot when his aircraft crashed at sea near Key West, Florida during a training mission. Survivors include his wife, Mary Eileen Andrew O'Connor of Dayton, Ohio and Prairie Village, Kansas; a son, Tommy; daughter, Patricia; parents, Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Francis O'Connor and a brother, Daniel of Dayton. Lt. O'Connor was a member of the St. Nicholas Parish, Virginia Beach, Virginia. Memorial services will be held at the Naval Air Station, Oceana, Virginia Chapel at 10 a.m. Wednesday, August 11. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Lt. O'Connor may be made to the America Heart Association or Cancer Society.